There always seems to be an underlying narrative when these two footballing giants collide, and Saturday's game is no different.
In fact, there's an edge to it which makes the derby even more special than usual.
Winner takes all in the derby
"In these derbies you often see the teams play a little more strategically than normal, and it's quite usual to see some draws as a result. This time, however, the derby can decide the league champions for the first time ever," Flashscore's Mario Rui Ventura noted.
"Sporting can draw and still have matters in their own hands going into the final game of the season, but if they win they will be champions. If Benfica triumph by two or more goals, they will also be champions. It's a hugely important 90 minutes, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see a nervous game from both sides."
Although Benfica are undefeated in their last seven Primeira Liga matches at home (W6 D1), scoring 3.4 goals per game and keeping four clean sheets in the process, they have lost each of their last two league games against Sporting, which is as many defeats as they suffered against their Lisbon rivals across their previous 16 meetings (W8 D6).
Since the start of 2024, Sporting have lost just one of their 26 league games on the road (W19 D6) and have won each of the last four on the bounce, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
They've not won three consecutive league matches against Benfica since October 1995, however.
Sporting have still been successful despite Ruben Amorim's defection
Once Ruben Amorim left Sporting to join Manchester United, a decision he may well live to regret if he doesn't already, there were always going to be question marks as to whether the team he left behind would be as successful without him at the helm.
"Rui Borges, when he arrived, changed the system that Sporting always used with Ruben Amorim, the now well known 3-4-3 that Joao Pereira (who was managing Sporting's reserve side and was the first choice to replace Amorim) kept in the month that he trained the first team," Mario Rui Ventura continued.
"However, Sporting suffered with many injuries (a total of 11 at the same time), so Rui Borges reverted to the 3-4-3 and, looking at the players available, utilised many from the youth team and kept things exactly the same until now."
Interestingly, Benfica manager Bruno Lage has won two of his previous three league matches against Sporting, losing the other, and will face them at Estadio da Luz for the first time. Rui Borges on the other hand is yet to win at Benfica’s home ground, losing on each of his two visits there.
"Of course, being at home is always an advantage. Estadio da Luz will have more than 60,000 fans of which only 3-4,000 will be from Sporting. However, the distance between the stadiums is a walk of just a few miles, in the same city, so this could be more of a 50/50 game," Mario Rui Ventura added.
All eyes on Viktor Gyokeres
All eyes are bound to be on Sporting's brilliant front man, Viktor Gyokeres, who has already scored 38 goals in the Primeira Liga this season. That's the most in a single league campaign since Mario Jardel netted 42 in 2001/02.
The Swede has scored just one goal in his 270 minutes played so far against Benfica in the competition, though, and only against Santa Clara has he scored fewer goals (0 in 180 minutes).
"Of course, Gyokeres is the main man at Sporting, in the Portuguese league and in this derby over the past two years. Looking at this game, however, the likes of Hjulmand, Trincao and Pedro Goncalves (back from injury, half a year later), can also make the difference," Mario Rui Ventura concluded.
"For Benfica, Di Maria is always a name to mention alongside Pavlidis, Kokcu and Aursnes."
Just two weeks after this game both sides come face-to-face again in the Portuguese cup final, and the thought of a league and cup double is, perhaps uniquely, still alive for both clubs.
Both sides are evenly matched ahead of a game that promises goals
To give a little more perspective on just how well matched the two teams are, Benfica have pressed their league opponents the most in 24/25 with a total of 501 sequences, at least 83 more than any other team this term (Porto, 418).
Bruno Lage’s side have also won the most high turnovers (349) and had the most shots following high turnovers (59) in the league this season.
By contrast, Sporting have had the most build-up attacks among all teams in the Primeira Liga in the current campaign (118), while only Porto have scored more goals from build-up attacks (seven) than the reigning champions in the league this term (six).
In 10 of the last 12 derbies, at least two goals have been scored, with three or more scored on nine of those occasions. Goals win games, of course, but arguably, they were never as important to either side as in this match.
For any number of other reasons, too, this is a game to be enjoyed by all rather than endured.
